Air conditioning apparatus



- April 1937- R L. sn'Es 2,077,021

I i AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed July 6, 1953 r v m" 26 Ennentor x /ZA I i attomeg Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Robert L. Sites, South Orange, N. J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Air Devices Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July 6, 1933, Serial No. 879,191

Renewed November 29, 1935 Claims.

This invention relates to air conditioning apparatus of the type including means for dehumidifying and cooling air, and has for its object an arrangement whereby the apparatus may be separated into two units, widely spaced apart in a building, one of which units comprises a refrigerating unit for coolingwater which is piped to the other unit wlhch comprises means actuated from the refrigerated water line for absorbing l0 heat and humidity from the air, and wherein the excess moisture condensed from the air in the conditioning unit may be eliminated from the system without the use of any connection to the conditioning unit other than the refrigerated wait ter line from the refrigerator unit.

To state the present invention in a somewhat difierent manner, it proposes, in an air conditioning system, to eliminate water of condensation therefrom at the refrigerating portion of the w mechanism.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use inconnection with a conditioning system which may be termed an open system, i. e., wherein there is a break in the refrigerated 25 water line at which break the refrigerated water is sprayed into a current of air being passed through the system, and which sprayed water is collected in an open pan and returned to the refrigerating mechanism. The invention safe- 30 guards against the overflowing of the water from the open pan while at the same time eliminating excess moisture from the system, without the use of a drain connected to the open pan.

More specifically, the present invention pro- 35 vides for disposing of water condensate at a point between a refrigerating reservoir and a delivery line for carrying the refrigerated water to the conditioning unit.

The present invention further proposes to prom vide a system in which the maintenance of proper water levels in the collecting pan of the conditioning unit and in the refrigerating reservoir of the refrigerating unit during normal operation is governed by the building upof a certain amount 45 of pressure in the refrigerating reservoir and balancing this pressure against the resistance of the outlet at the spray in the conditioning unit and of the delivery line connecting the reservoir to the outlet.

My invention utilizes this pressure which is built up in the delivery line, for the control of an escape valve which eliminates the excess moisture.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of the invention whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and described in the accompanying drawing which is a diagram of a conditioning system embodying the invention.

I have used the reference characters A and B to indicate respectively the conditioning and refrigerating units of the system. The conditioning unit A may be of the general construction illustrated in the application of Frederick RiebeL;

nection It is pumped through the return line it,

Ill. The pipe i6 connects the return connection it to the pump it and the pipe ll connects the pump it to the reservoir it.

The water is delivered from the reservoir it under a slight pressure head which may vary according to the compression of an air cushion it in the top of the reservoir IE, to a delivery line 22, leading to the connection 2! of the float valve Ill of the conditioning unit A.

The refrigerator is provided with a conventional compressor 22 operated by a motor, compressing a refrigerating gas into a coil 24 which delivers the refrigerant into a tank 25 from which it is delivered through a tube 26 and an expansion valve 21 to the refrigerating coil 28 located in the reservoir it. From the coil 23, the refrigerant returns through a pipe 22 to the compressor 22. Water from a water main 3% is led through a valve 30 into the refrigerant cooling line 32 which includes a coil 33 inside of the coil 2t, and a drain pipe at which is connected to a sewer outlet. The coil 32 is a conventional cooling coil for removing heat of compression from the refrigerant in the coil 2t.

It may be noted at this point that the pump l 8 will draw the water from the collecting pan ill and deliver it to the reservoir it. Because the spray impeller coil is a restricted 'outlet, a certain amount of pressure will be built up in the air cushion space it by the pumping of the refrigcrating water into the reservoir it. This pressure will deliver the water through the pipe 2% to the outlet it from which it will be sprayed into an poses. However, as the spray produced at the outlet l2 condenses moisture from the air being conditioned, the water in the system will commence to build up, and a point would be reached at which the float valve ll would close ofl, and the pressure in the system between the pump l8 and the float valve ll would build up to a point where some part of the system would have to give way.

The present invention provides a pressure tube which connects the delivery line 20 to the drain line 34. In order that the relief tube 35 may not reduce the pressure in the delivery line 20 to such a low level as to prevent the delivery of water to the outlet I2, I provide an escape valve 36 adapted to remain closed under normal operating conditions and to open only when the pressure in the system rises above a predetermined point. The escape valve 36 thus serves to allow the elimination of excess moisture from the system when a predetermined pressure has been reached.

The pressure which is built up in the system between the pump l8 and the outlet I2 is determined by the existence of a balance between the resistance of the outlet as varied by the position of the float valve l I, and the pressure head produced by the pump l8 In other words, the system may be said to be one which requires a condition of substantial equilibrium in order to operate.

In order to determine and regulate the pressure in the system, I provide a throttling valve 38 which is disposed in the line 20 between the reservoir l5 and the connection 2| and pressure gauges 39 and 40 disposed on either side of the throttling valve 38 so that readings may be taken of the pressure drop through the throttling valve 38.

It will now be seen that by adjusting the throttling valve 38, the pressure inthe relief tube 35 may be so correlated to the pressure at the float valve connection 2| that excess moisture may be allowed to escape from the system without undue closing of the float valve II. This will be understood when it is considered that the rate of flow through the outlet l2 (and consequently the rate of building up of the level in the pan III) will vary according to the pressure head at the valve connection 2|. It may be noted further at this point that in installing the two units of a system of this kind, under various conditions of installation, the height of the unit A, relative to the unit B may vary within very broad limits, and this height will in all cases be a factor in the determination of the pressure at the valve connection 2 I.

To trace the operation of the device from an inoperative condition to a moisture eliminating condition, it will be assumed that the water level in the pan A, before the operation of the system is started, is at the level indicated by the full line 4|. The level in the reservoir l5 will be as: indicated by the same type of full line 42. The system is then started up and the pump l8 will commence to take the water from the pan l0 and deliver it to the reservoir l5. For a period of say a minute, the pump will take the water out of the pan l0 faster than it is delivered to the outlet i2 until the head over the return opening l4 recedes to practically nothing, when the system runs in balance, generating a pressure of say twelve to fourteen pounds per square inch on the tank and discharge line, with the throttling valve air current for cooling and dehumidifying pur- 36 wide open. A substantial proportion of the water from the pan I0 is now in the reservoir l5. By manipulating the valve between the gauges 39 and 40 I thereupon establish a ratio of from say twenty pounds per square inch to six pounds per square inch, the twenty pounds pressure being on the relief tube 35, and the six pounds pressure being at the outlet l2. Itis desirable to have from two to six pounds pressure on the outlet l2 to produce the proper volume spray and it is of course desirable that this head be maintained at a substantially constant predetermined level. The figures just given are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the invention.

If no moisture were being added to the system, the respective levels in the pan l0 and reservoir l5 are now as indicated by the broken lines 45 and 44 respectively.

Assuming now that the system commences to condense moisture from the air being conditioned, the level in both the pan I 0 and the reservoir l5 will rise to the level indicated by the dotted lines 43 and 46 respectively. As the level in the reservoir i5 is raised, the pressure in the air cushion'space l9 will gradually build up until, when the levels 45 and 46 respectively are reached, this pressure will be sufllcient to cause the pressure relief valve 36 to open and allow the excess moisture to escape into the drain pipe 34.

The air cushion in the reservoir l5 need not necessarily be as large as that illustrated. It is -only necessary that the pressure which is built up within the reservoir be so predetermined and correlated with the pressure at which the relief valve 36 operates so that moisture will be eliminated from the system before the float valve II has reached such a level of closing as to seriously ilrterfere with the flow of water through the outlet In addition to providing for disposal of excess water, the present invention provides for a more or less continuous dilution of circulated water, whereby impurities collected within the system may be gradually drained away.

It may be noted that best results are secured where the pump I8 is of a plunger type.

It is impossible for the pan III to overflow for the reason that the choke valve 2| will close oil at the level 4|. Should anything occur in the system which would cause the choke valve 2| to close off, the relief valve 36 will prevent any injury to the system from excessive pressures.

The pressure at which the valve 36 opens is higher than the pressure in the water line 32-34, in order that the escaping water may force its way into the drain.

It will be understood that the relief tube 35 may be connected to other drain outlets besides the cooling lipe 32-34, the latter being a convenient means of disposaL I claim:

1. In an air conditioning system, the combination of conditioning mechanism operated by cold water and refrigerating mechanism including a refrigeratingreservoir and a pump to pull water from the conditioning mechanism and to deliver it into the refrigerating reservoir, so as to build up pressure therein, a pipe line for cooling the refrigerant in the refrigerating mechanism, said pipe line being connected to a waste water outlet, a delivery line for delivering refrigerated water from the refrigerating reservoir to the conditioning mechanism, a return pipe line leading from the conditioningmechanism back to the refrigeratlng mechanism, means to collect condensate from said conditioning mechanism and to feed such condensate into said return line at the region of collection and a relief by-pass connection between the said cooling line and the delivery line, said connection including an escape valve adapted to open at a predetermined pressure in the delivery line.

2. In an air conditioning system, the combination of conditioning mechanism operated by cold water and refrigerating mechanism including a refrigerating reservoir and a pump to pull water from the conditioning mechanism and to deliver it into the refrigerating reservoir, so as to build up pressure therein, a pipe line for cooling the refrigerant in the refrigerating mechanism, said pipe line being connected to a waste water outlet, a delivery line for delivering refrigerated water from the refrigerating reservoir to the conditioning mechanism, a return pipe line leadingfrom the conditioning mechanism back to the refrigerating mechanism, means to collect condensate I from said conditioning mechanism and to feed a such condensate into said return lineat the region of collection and a relief by-pass connection between the said cooling line and the refrigerating reservoir, saidconnection including an escape valve adapted to open at a predetermined pressure in the refrigerating reservoir.

3. Air conditioning apparatus comprising a refrigerating mechanism provided with a water cooling system for the compressed refrigerant, an

' air cooling'apparatus adapted to be operated by cold water and provided with a condensate receiver into which is condensed the moisture from the air cooled thereby, means for cooling water by said refrigerating mechanism, supply and return conduit connections between said cooling means and the air cooling apparatus, the condensate from the cooled air beingfed into the return conduit connection with the returned water, and means for forcing the condensate from said cooling means into the water cooling system to be discharged with the water therein.

4. An air conditioning apparatus comprising a refrigerating mechanism including a water cooled condenser, means to cooiwater by said mecha nism, an air cooling device located somervdistance from said mechanism, means to circulate cold water from said means to the air cooling device and to circulate return water and condensate from the cooled air from the air cooling device to the water cooling means, and power means for ejecting from the apparatus with the water from said condenser an amount of water equivalent to said condensate.

5. An air conditioning apparatus comprising a power-driven refrigerating mechanism, means to cool water by said mechanism, a device some distance from said mechanism arranged to cool air and provided with means for receiving moisture condensed from the air cooled thereby, power means to circulate water from said water cooling means to the air cooling means and to circulate return water and condensate from the air cooling device to the water cooling means, and means actuated by said power means for ejecting from the apparatus an amount of water equivalent to said condensate.

ROBERT L. SITES. 

